The Midgard Child
by Moonlightmistborn
Summary: She was in training to be a SHIELD agent, until the day she decided to go after the Hulk. Then it all went wrong. She failed her mentor and was labeled as a mutant. She was kept in containment, until, one day, she attempted escape. It may have been in vain, had a certain hero not been walking down the hall. But was it really escape? Rated T because paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**Another story? What the heck is wrong with me?**

The girl, clad in dark gray leggings, shirt, and jacket, hung from the ceiling by her legs. Her hunter had not found her yet, meaning she still had the upper hand in surprise. She leaped silently from her position in the roof rafters to a stack of crates. She cursed under her breath as the stack of crates swayed, but relaxed as they stilled. She leaped from her position on the stack of crates onto another roof rafter, this time crouching like a frog on the oak beam. She took one of her weighted knives from the belt she wore and threw it at a stack of crates, causing the crates to sway then fall, clattering all over the place. An arrow whirred in the direction of the falling crates. The girl smirked in the darkness of the barn.

 _"Distraction, check,"_ she thought as she leaped off the beam. A split second had passed by the time she had her arms around her hunter's neck in a headlock. But again, the hunter wasn't as easy to defeat as it may have looked. The hunter backflipped, and due to his greater mass, the girl fell flat on her back. Before she could get up, an arrow was pointed at her head.

"That was fast," the hunter smugly said with a smirk. The girl felt a new determination surge through her.

"Funny," she said, "You think the fight is over already." A fraction of second after she said that, the girl grabbed the arrow out of its notched position in the bow and threw it on the floor. She hooked her legs onto his shoulders, using his greater mass to pull herself upward onto his back. She took out an electrical current dagger and stabbed into her hunter's quiver of arrows. Before he had reached for another arrow, she had run off into her refuge of darkness. She leaped up on crates, scattering them in order to confuse the archer in where she was. She jumped on top of the rafters again in order for a good vantage point. She ran without fault along the rafters, skirting past supporting beams in the roof. She paused for a moment, waiting. Sure enough, a arrow whizzed an inch away from in front of her, where she would have been if she had not stopped. She carefully climbed the nearest support beam, and readied her blunt, weighted knife; the one she used to knock out people if she needed them alive. Her eyes darted around, searching for the archer. He was in the middle of the room, bow drawn, not even bothering to hide!

 _"He's going to regret not hiding later on,"_ she thought with a grin. She took aim with her knife. Then she threw it through the air at the archer's stomach, running and jumping silently towards the roof rafter in the center of the room after she made the throw. The archer heard the slight _hiss_ of the sir being cut through, but not before the weighted knife hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The girl, now on the center rafter of the room, jumped down from her place from above, landing her feet on the archer's shoulders, knocking him onto the ground. Before he could react, the girl drew a sharp dagger and pressed it to the archer's neck.

The training buzzer sounded after 10 seconds of the hunter being on the ground. "I win," the girl smirked as she stood up and took the sharp edge of the blade away from the hunter's throat. The archer winced as he sat up.

"Did you really have to use the sharp dagger?" Hawkeye complained.

"As I recall you saying, my mentor," the girl said innocently, "I could have gotten the blunt one by accident, allowing the enemy to be free to attack."

"Sometimes I really hate it when my logic applies to my health," he groaned, hopping back up on his feet.

"Hey, I thought I was the one who was supposed to complain!" the girl mock-whined, "I mean, seriously. Mentors are supposed the wise and tolerant ones. And us trainees are supposed to be the annoying and the foolish."

"You're the only trainee left since you're the only one who passed the qualification test," Hawkeye pointed out as they walked out of the simulator-training room on the SHIELD helicarrier.

"Stereotypes!" the girl said, punching her fist up into the air. The agent rolled his eyes as he and his trainee walked down the hall to the room where the simulation control room. A red-haired woman in a skintight black body sit sat at the control desk, turning in her chair as the mentor and trainee walked in.

"You're definitely improving, Alyx," Black Widow said with a small smile, "That's the fastest time that you beat Hawkeye in. We need to get you into the field soon."

"Ha!" Alyx shouted triumphantly at her mentor.

"Please, Natasha, you are not helping," Hawkeye said, "And besides, Lynxie here doesn't know how big the missions we go on are."

"Really?" 'Lynxie' asked incredulously, "Fury trusts Hawkeye with big, bad missions?"

"As your mentor, I advise you to be quiet," Hawkeye cautioned.

"As your trainee, I would like to state that would happen the day you stop calling me 'Lynx' or 'Lynxie'," Alyx shot back.

"Oh, come on," Hawkeye complained, "You _need_ a nickname. You wouldn't be annoyed without one." Alyx opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Fury's voice filling the room.

 **"Widow, Hawkeye, sighting of a Banner problem near Vegas,"** Fury's voice crackled through the radio, **"Ross is on the scene, but we think he's going to cause too much destruction. Get Ross off this chase and deal with the Hulk yourselves."**

"Sorry Lynx," Hawkeye said as he and his partner gathered their equipment, "We gotta go."

"Can I come?" Alyx asked, hopefully, even though she knew what the answer was already.

"No, stay here," Hawkeye ordered. Alyx sighed and walked out into the hallway, down to the room she used for training. As Hawkeye turned into the opposite hall, he caught Widow raising an eyebrow.

"What?" the archer demanded.

"Alyx has been training for 5 years now," Black Widow stated slowly, so he could hear every word, "So either you're being overprotective or you don't think she's ready."

"Of course she's ready!" he shouted indignantly, "She's not weak!"

"Then you're overprotective?"

"What? No!"

"Then you don't think she's ready?"

"I do!"

"Then why are you leaving her here every time we go on a mission when we both know she's perfectly capable of herself?" Black Widow asked with a raised eyebrow. When her partner didn't reply, she sighed and said, "Look, Clint. I know you worry about Alyx. So do I. But she's the only trainee who passed the test. Your job as a mentor is to make her a qualified SHIELD agent. Not to keep her in the helicarrier every time there's a chance to prove herself!"

"I just want her to be safe!" Hawkeye yelled at his partner.

"So you _are_ being overprotective," Widow stated.

"I'm not having this conversation," Hawkeye snapped at her before he stormed off in the direction the docking bay was. Natasha sighed, looked back at the door where Alyx had disappeared into, then followed after him.

 **Alyx's P.O.V.**

 _Thud._ Stupid. _Thud._ Hawkeye. _Thud._ Stupid, stupid, stupid Hawkeye! _Thud._ Why can't he just let me do what I want? Is this not a free country? _Thud._ I have been training for five years! _Thud._ Why couldn't he allow me just to go on a real mission? _THUD._ I gave the punching bag a final hit before I retreated to a water break. I began to take the black hand wraps I had, before I rewound them. Hawkeye had told me to stay on the helicarrier. But he said nothing about a piece of the helicarrier that could be taken off. The ship. I strapped on my belt and pulled on my black combat boots and ran off into the hall. I knew exactly where Hawkeye's ship was, since I had tried to sneak on board the ship. Many, _many_ times. I carefully shot around corners so SHIELD agents didn't see me. Soon I was at the docking bay.

"Perfect," I muttered, "Now, how are you going to get on board the ship without anyone noticing this time, Taylor?" I used my last name to refer to myself a lot. It helped me focus somewhat, reminding me of my past experiences. I carefully sneaked into the ship, immediately looking for hiding places. When I heard voices from the hallway outside the docking bay, I leaped up and balanced on the door frame.

"Tasha, I don't have time for this," an irritated voice said.

"Clint, keeping her in the helicarrier isn't going to accomplish anything," Black Widow said calmly as they both walked into the ship. I tried more than ever to blend in with the top part of the ship.

"But getting her killed on her first mission isn't going to accomplish anything either!" he shouted. I could have screamed a ton of things at him right then and there, but I managed to restrain myself from doing that. What I didn't manage to restrain myself was thinking in my head.

 _"Oh, so he doesn't think I'm capable, does he? Let me show him how capable I am with my daggers,"_ a rather nasty part of me said in my mind.

 _"Hey, voice in my mind, do me a favor. Shut up so I can concentrate."_ I hissed back at it. Suddenly, the ship shook and I nearly fell off the 1/2 inch of ledge that was the top of the door frame.

 **"Preparing to depart; arrival at Las Vegas will be in approximately 10 minutes,"** a female voice said over the intercom. Bobbi. I really wished she wasn't on this mission. Not because I didn't like her, she was a good person. But she was the one who had caught me on the last few times I had tried to sneak onto this ship.

"Tasha, we're going to depart, so I will get ready for the more important tasks at hand, like the Hulk," Hawkeye snapped. I bit my lip as the beginnings of tears stung my eyes. I can understand him saying I wasn't capab - okay, I really can't. But calling me unimportant? That really hurt. I probably would have shouted at him if Widow hadn't beat me to the punch.

"So, your own trainee isn't an important matter to you?" she asked coldly with a raised eyebrow. My mentor's eyes widened as he realized what he just said, and he began to open his mouth to say something else, but Natasha was already walking down the hall to the cockpit. Hawkeye lowered his head and walked down the other hall, which I didn't get to explore on my other "expeditions" on the ship. I looked around and saw no one in the loading bay room, so I jumped down from the door ledge. I quickly found an air vent and crawled into it after I removed the cover. I didn't bother closing the vent since they were going to find out I had sneaked onto the ship anyway; I didn't intend to stay on the sidelines in the fight against the Hulk. I carefully found my way to the top of the ship and poked my head outside into the wind, finding it refreshing, but strong. I brought my head back inside to the vent and waited till the ship came to a halt. Then I jumped out on top of the ship and looked for a good spot to jump on top of the Hulk. Hawkeye had already shot two explosive arrows at him, which didn't seem to have much effect, even though it kicked up some pretty decent dust clods. While Hawkeye and Natasha were standing there, thinking he might actually be defeated, I jumped off the ship.

 _"Good thing I'm not afraid of heights,"_ I thought as I shot through the air. I carefully positioned my feet under me, bent, so I could land on the Hulk's shoulders easily. In about 3 seconds, the Hulk slammed his fist into the ground, announcing his consciousness to my mentor and his partner. A split second after that, I landed on his back. I winced slightly as pain shot through my ankle. I heard Hawkeye's voice screaming at me as I took out a heat knife and pressed it to the Hulk's neck, pressing the button on the hilt. After 2 seconds, the blade was white-hot, and searing against the green skin of the Hulk. The green giant roared in pain an threw me off the back of his neck. I tumbled to the ground a few feet away, landing on my tailbone. I gritted my teeth because of the pain this time.

"What are you doing here?" my mentor's voice yelled at me from a few yards away.

"Oh, I'm a important matter now?" I shouted back at him, getting up off the ground, ignoring the pain in my spine.

"Wait, you heard that?" he yelped in surprise, releasing another arrow at the Hulk, completely missing because of the question I asked, "Lynx, I-"

"How about more fighting and less talking?" I hollered back at him, drawing a electrical current dagger out my belt. I took aim and threw it quickly after I pressed the button on its hilt. It embedded itself in his side, which he didn't seen to notice until electricity from the knife coursed through him. He hollered in pain and stopped fighting Natasha and stomped towards me.

 _"Great. You've angered the Hulk, who gets stronger as he feeds off of anger. Any more things we shouldn't do that we're going to do anyway?"_ an irritable voice asked in my head. I ignored it and stared the Hulk straight in the eyes, trying to show I wasn't afraid, even though I most definitely was.

"Lynx, what are doing?" Hawkeye yelled at me, "Run!" I simply glared at him, then turned my gaze back towards the Hulk. I straightened out of my defensive position into a completely upright one. I looked at my dagger I had thrown into his side. I felt guilt pang at me. This was a person. I had hurt a person, not just a monster of mass destruction.

"Go ahead," I said calmly. The Hulk looked confused and conflicted for a split second, but then returned to anger. I roared and picked me up by the neck, choking me of air. Hawkeye was shooting as many arrows as he could at the Hulk, but his rage was completely centered around me at the moment, ignoring anything else. Just when I thought I was going to choke to death, the green giant, still holding me by the neck, slammed me into the ground, most of the blow being brought down onto the the upper part of my spine, breaking even more of it than already was fractured. I yelped out in pain by now, and was beginning to rapidly lose my grip on this reality. Dying? Not so much. In extreme pain and falling unconscious? That's more like it. But Mr. Green Giant wasn't done yet. He took me by the legs and dangled me in the air, obviously prepared to give me another beating. So I decided to make this right. With the last of my strength, I curled my body forward and ripped the electrocuting dagger out of his rib cage and threw it onto the ground. That's when the Hulk decided to drop me on my head from 4 feet in the air. I felt a piercing pain in my head as I hit the ground, but it slowly went away along with my grip on reality.

My last thought was: _"Hawkeye's going to kill me if I don't die first."_

* * *

I felt dead. At least, I felt what I thought death would be like. Black nothingness. Floating around in black nothingness. It actually felt much better then my fractured spine and my banged-up head. I closed my eyes, savoring the peace and lack of pain. When I opened my eyes, however, I wasn't in black nothingness. I was staring at a structure of planets that looked sort of like a tree.

 _"Midgard, you must choose,"_ a gruff voice said roughly. I jumped at the sudden sound. Were the planets...talking?

 _"Patience, Nidavellir,"_ a lighter, melodious voice said sternly, _"Reinstating Midguard as center of the Nine Realms once more, through a human, no less...it can be more than burdensome."_

 _"And what might happen when this host comes to me, Alfheim?"_ a cold, monotone voice asked, _"The human, even if blessed by Midguard, won't be able to escape death."_

 _"But, we may be able to help the host do just that,"_ a commanding voice said _, "So do not hope just yet, Niffleheim."_

 _"Asgard, you are willing to expand such a privilege to a human?"_ a mocking voice exclaimed, _"You won't even extend that to my people."_

 _"Svartalfheim does raise a fair question Asgard,"_ another rough voice admitted, _"You have not extended this favor to any of the Nine Realms. Why to a human?"_

 _"It may be the only thing that can bring together the Tree of Life again,"_ Asgard said in a solemn voice, _"Now, Midgard, have you made your decision?"_

 _"Indeed,"_ a warm, motherly voice said, _"Come forth, dear child."_ I was somehow dragged right in front of the tree structure, right in front of the bickering planets.

 _"A girl?"_ a voice snarled, _"You mock us by choosing a_ _mere_ girl _?"_

 _"Vanaheim, I would not interfere with Midgard's decisions,"_ a venomous voice said, _"But he does raise a reasonable point, Midgard. Why a girl, a weakling in age?"_

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly. I might have no clue what they're talking about, but they were no way in hell I was going to let them get away with insulting me.

 _"Does that answer your question, Muspelheim?"_ the no-longer-warm voice asked, a layer of ice covering her words. She seemed to turn towards me again, _"Dear child, I do believe you have not the slightest idea what is going on; am I right?"_

"Yep," I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

 _"This girl seems to be more clueless than Jotunheim,"_ Svartalfheim snickered.

 _"Do not insult me Svartalfheim,"_ a low voice growled, _"Or there will be regrets."_

 _"SILENCE!"_ Midguard shouted. The bickering immediately stopped. _"Thank you. I choose this human, because she has suffered much and has just demonstrated a incredible act. An act of making things right, with a monster who had beat her to this state of consciousness in the first place. As you well know, this means she is very close to death. Niffleheim, hold your tongue. I would like to revive her not only as my host, but as a host for the nine realms."_

 _"This was not what we agreed to!"_ the monotone voice, known as Niffleheim, snarled suddenly, _"I will most definitely not give her access to passed souls! She will raise the dead, for, due to her past, those souls include her family's!"_ Wait, my family?

 _"Even though Niffleheim's reason is completely off-point,"_ Asgard grumbled, _"There are a few doubts that I have in this as well. The mortal may not be able to withstand the transfer of the power and fusion of the divine soul."_

 _"It is her only chance of survival in her reality,"_ Midgard said firmly, _"Divine_ _soul and power will be the only things able to bring her back from the edge of life and death."_

"Wait, what?" I asked abruptly, "My only chance at survival? Don't I have any choices?"

 _"You do,"_ Niffleheim said tonelessly, _"Life and death."_

"Thanks Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows, that really helps," I snapped back at him, "But, basically, if I don't choose...whatever-this-is, I die."

 _"The 'whatever-this-is' is the transfusion of parts of divine soul into your own, which transfers divine power into your soul."_ Asgard explained solemnly.

 _"And I will answer your question: yes,"_ Niffleheim said, just as emotionless as before.

"Again, what is...this?" I asked, gesturing to the planets in front of me, "And transfusion of souls and powers? What the heck does that mean?"

 _"In short, you have been brought here because you have been chosen by Midgard, or, Earth, as you mortals call it,"_ Muspelheim said carelessly, _"You have been chosen apparently because Midgard believes that you are worthy to handle powers of our worlds. Ground, water, atmosphere, all that has to do with the Nine Realms."_

A long, shocked silence from me followed.

 _"I think you damaged the poor human, Muspelheim,"_ Svartalfheim sneered.

"Why would you entrust me, of all people, to handle that power?" I stuttered.

 _"I would like to know the answer to that too,"_ Vanaheim growled.

 _"I have already explained that, as you very well know,"_ Midgard snapped, _"If you do not think that answer is sufficient, then I will still grant her my blessing, whether you consent to it or not."_

 _"But the point of this host was to make you the center of the Nine Realms once more!"_ Alfheim cried out, _"If you do this without our consent, then there will be war!"_

 _"Then so be it,"_ Midgard said grimly, _"I am the only the world which can be the center of the Nine Realms. If you destroy me, then our worlds will be thrown into more chaos."_

"What the heck are you talking about?" I shrieked, frustrated, "Can't I just get on with my life without this...soul-transfusion-thingy?"

 _"Dear child, without the 'soul-transfusion-thingy' you won't be able to even remotely live,"_ Midgard stated gravely, _"So, I will do it, agreement or not."_

 _"Midgard, you are forbidden to do such things, to all the Nine Realms agreement!"_ Nidavellir yelled angrily.

 _"Ah, but you have forgotten something, Nidavellir,"_ Midgard said knowingly, _"I am not part of the Nine Realms. I do not need your agreement."_

 _"Midgard, no!"_ Alfheim cried out. But Midgard had already started chanting.

 _"Terris riseth ni losu,"_ Midgard murmured, _"Roctron vore. Tewar riseth ni losu. Roctron vore. Tosmopreha riseth ni losu. Roctron vore. Siblesn Midgard. Roctron vore." *_

At first, I felt completely normal.

Then the chanting started in my _head._

As if it wasn't annoying and confusing enough already.

After five repeated verses of the chant, I felt a small pain in my head. After ten repeated verses, I felt that pain in my head growing and spreading to my spine. After twenty repeated verses, a fiery pain was searing through my bones and flesh. I tried to scream, but it was like trying to scream over the cheering of crazed soccer fans. Nothing seemed to come out of my mouth.

 _"Relax, dear child,"_ Midgard said sympathetically, _"This is the feeling of divine soul and power. It will not alter you in any way. The power I'm transferring into you is only limited to a mortal's mental capacity. If you choose to exceed that, you will lose your soul."_

 _"What are you talking about?"_ I thought irritably, " _Do you care to actually explain any of that?"_ No answer. Of course not. Everything had to be so vague and confusing, didn't it?

Then, to top it all off, blinding white light started to sear into my eyelids. Wonderful. I gradually lifted my eyelids, closing them when the light was too bright. When I eventually got my eyes all the way open, I almost wished I kept them closed.

I was in a stupid hospital bed. I _hated_ hospital beds, ever since I woke up in one when I was six years old. Six, almost seven years ago. I immediately sat up. It sent waves of pain up and down my backbone, but I pushed that pain to the back of my mind. I threw off the bed covers and slid my feet over the bed and placed my feet on the floor.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

I inwardly groaned as I turned around to greet the owner of the voice.

"Hey, Hawkeye," I sighed, rolling my eyes, already knowing the rant coming on.

"I asked, what do you think you're doing?" he demanded angrily.

"Getting out of bed," I replied tonelessly.

"You are not going to do that."

"Oh yes I am."

"Lynx, you have a twisted ankle, two fractures in your spine, and a concussion!" he yelled at me.

"And, your point is...?" I asked, staring directly at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Alyx, what were you thinking?" he asked tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. Uh-oh. He's using my real name. _Now_ I know he's serious.

"Does it matter?" I snorted, "I'm not important, remember?" I turned to walk out of the room.

"Alyx," my mentor called after me. I paused, with my back still turned to him.

"Why did you sneak onto the ship?" Oh is this not clear already? He has got to be the most clueless person. Ever.

"Why?" I whirled around, barely suppressing my anger to a snarl, "I don't know. Oh wait, maybe, it's the fact that I'm kept on the helicarrier every time we have a mission! And to add insult to injury, I have been training for five years. Am I just not good enough? Is that it?" I could barely keep from screaming at him now. I glared into the shock of his dark teal eyes. Before he had the chance to say anything, I stormed out of the door. I ran down the hall outside, barely avoiding crashing into Widow.

"Alyx, what-" was all I heard from her before her voice was lost in the rushing air. I eventually stopped running, and stopping at a loading bay. Actually, _the_ loading bay. Of the ship. I carefully slipped out of the doorway out into a cold desert night. Only then did I realize that I still had my training outfit instead of a hospital gown, since I would have been absolutely frozen with that papery material. I looked around at my surroundings. Only then did I realize that those boring SHIELD lectures came in handy for finding out where I was.

The Cube.

 _"Oh god,"_ I thought breathlessly. Wow, looks like Fury did trust Hawkeye with big, bad missions. I mentally slapped myself for thinking of my mentor right then. I pushed those thoughts away as I walked up to the structure. I cursed under my breath when I saw that the prison had security. A lot of security. I braced myself for being told off by the SHIELD guards. Instead, they let me pass, even if I did get a few odd looks. I kept my walk steady as I walked up to the entrance of the building. I nearly stumbled, though, when I saw the entrance had eye scanners.

"Please, please, please," I muttered under my breath. I focused my eye on the scanner and stared directly at it. For a second, it stayed silent, and I was mentally getting ready to panic. But when it identified me, all I felt was relief.

"Taylor, Alyx," it stated in its artificial voice, "SHIELD agent in training." Then doors silently slid open. As I walked in, I heard my mentor's voice yelling out at me, probably trying to stop me. I ignored his calls and walked straight into the Cube.

Right into where the real nightmares of my life began.

* * *

 **PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!**

 **I know I have a lot of other stories to catch up on, but this story kept calling out to me, you know?**

 **Anyway, I haven't abandoned any of the other stories, I promise. I'll update Project Zodiac by next Thursday or Friday, and Yin and Yang by next weekend. At least, I'll put in the effort to do so.**

 **Sooooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I didn't explain the * in chapter 1. I just wanted to let you know that this was a completely made-up language. What I translate it as is: "Ground rise in soul, control over. Water rise in soul, control over. Atmosphere rise in soul, control over. Midgard blessing, control over." Anyway, onward bound!**

 **Alyx's P.O.V.**

I sighed in relief as the doors swished closed behind me. Then, I ran like hell. I ran down the halls, searching for anything that screamed 'containment cells for gamma-ray-effected super villains'. You see, the thing about SHIELD: they manage keep the super villain prison locations secret, but once you're actually inside the prison,...let's just say they might as well have put up glowing signs pointing to where the cells are. I slowed down as I neared a huge, vault-like door with an eye scanner as a lock. Seriously, could the location of the cells be _any_ more obvious? I nervously slowed my jog into a walk as I got closer to the scanner.

"C'mon," I muttered, "This worked for getting in the prison, there's no reason it shouldn't work to get into the containment." I steadied my breathing as I held my eye up to the scanner's level.

"Taylor, Alyx," the same artificial voice said, "SHIELD agent in training." The doors slid open with a _whish_. I would have seen what's on the other side of those doors at that moment if I didn't whirl around to the sound of-

"Lynx!" Hawkeye's voice echoed through the halls, "LYNX! Get over here now!"

"Yeah, that's going to happen," I muttered as I slipped into the hall the doors had revealed. The doors swished shut behind me, which cut off all options of escape for me if changed my mind about what I was going to do. Which is probably a good thing, since I would've turned tail and ran if the doors hadn't already shut behind me. Why would I have turned tail and ran? Maybe, I don't know, because of the terrifying gamma villains that were currently staring at me? I ignored their stares and walked down the hall, managing to hide the fact that my legs were shaking badly. My eyes flitted around to find a cell with open bars. I knew standard SHIELD procedure. Capture a powered villain, then take a blood sample for testing. My sight caught a open cell at the end of the hall. I managed to make it look like I wasn't running desperately to the cell. I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and walked into the Hulk's cell.

Actually, more like Bruce Banner's cell.

I held back from panicking as the scientist who was taking blood from Banner turned toward me. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. I managed to keep my expression nonchalant as the scientist and Banner conversed a short while, even though my eyes seemed to stray to the burn on Banner's chest as well as the slice on his torso. The scientist, Samson, I think, left with the blood sample. I cleared my throat awkwardly in the silence that followed.

"To start off, I'm sorry," I told him. Banner knit his eyebrows at this. "Oh come on!" I complained, "Don't tell me you're actually wondering why I'm apologizing!"

"I think I should be the one apologizing," he said softly, "The Hulk injured you. Come to think of it, shouldn't you be in recovery still?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not one to sit around," I said carelessly. Then I grew serious again. "But really, I'm sorry for the heat and electrocuting knife."

"The fact that you're apologizing almost outweighs the oddness of you letting the Hulk hurt you," he observed, "Again, I never really got the whole thing: why did you let the Hulk hurt you? And why did you take the knife out?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but that was before Hawkeye had entered the containment unit hall.

"LYNX!" he yelled, walking toward the end of the hall. I cursed under my breath. He was going to find me. I turned back to the chained up doctor.

"I'll answer your questions later," I whispered to him. He looked at me curiously, but then nodded. I turned back toward the open cell door, feeling around for a fog knife. I grabbed the grooved hilt, then stabbed the blade into the ground. I waited till Hawkeye came into my view. Then I pressed the button on the hilt.

"Lynx, where have you-" Clint didn't get to finish his sentence before a wave of fog hit him full in the face. I used the cover to slip out of the cell into the hall. I looked around carefully to see if there was anyone in the hall. I shrank back into the cell as I saw Widow use her access card to open up the lab doors, but looked around the corner curiously to see what she was doing. Tasha was never much of a science geek. I saw her slip inside the lab, so I padded silently over to the lab doors. At least, I started to before a hand grabbed the neck of my jacket. Hawkeye. I forgot about him.

"Let me go!" I hissed at him.

"Why exactly should I do that?" he seethed.

"Tasha just went inside the lab!" I whispered back, "And we both know she is _not_ a science geek."

Silence. Then, "I'll check it out. But you are going to recovery." I opened my mouth to retort, but Hawkeye quickly covered it with his hand and pulled me along with him behind a bit of wall when a door-opening sound resonated through the hallway. I heard the clicking of Widow's boots exiting the lab. Then, a pause. Then the clicking started again, fading away as she traveled farther away. "What are you doing Tasha?" my mentor whispered. He took away his hand from my mouth. At this, I took the opportunity to wrench myself away from his grasp and run silently after Widow.

"I'll be fine!" I hissed back at him, before he could try to scold me. I silently followed Natasha to her car. I saw her place a container in her car, then get in. I carefully ran up to the car, not making a sound. Before I returned to my sanity, I scurried under the car. I heard the engine rumble. I quickly grabbed onto the machinery exposed under the car, weaving my feet into the frame to keep stable. No sooner than I did this did the car start moving. I tightened my grip on the bottom of the car for a reassurance.

 _"You do know this is a very foolish notion, do you not?"_ a foreign voice said in my head.

 _"Okay, who the heck are you?"_ I grumbled mentally back at it, _"Because I_ never _talk like that. So I wouldn't think like that either. And yes, I know this might be one of the most stupid ideas I've ever had."_

 _"I told, my divine soul would be transferred into you,"_ the voice said, _"A part of my soul is in you to offer guidance."_ I nearly lost my grip on the pipes as I realized who was in my head.

 _"Okay, I have a few notions,"_ I snapped at the voice in my head, " _One: Do_ not _drop bombshells when I am in a situation that's dangerous or requires concentration. Such as now. Two: This is going to get really annoying really fast. So I suggest you get out of my head, NOW."_

 _"I accept notion one,"_ Midgard's voice said with a tinge of amusement, _"However, I cannot transfer out of your head, for you do not understand what power you possess just yet. I will help you understand it."_

I was ready to mentally retort back at the voice of the divine being in my head, but was cut short by the car stopping, and the wind around me slowing. I tried carefully lowering myself to the ground, but that failed, resulting with me damaging my spine even more. I stayed under the car as Natasha's boots clicked away from the car. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. She should know I'm here. I mean, sure, I'm awesome at sneaking, but Widow was the one who taught me in the first place.

 _"She may be diverting her attention away from you for a purpose,"_ Midgard observed.

 _"Please stop talking like you're part of a king's royal court or something,"_ I begged. But, as weird the way she put it, she had a point. Tasha should know I'm here. She probably does. But she would be ignoring me because-

My eyes widened in realization. I rolled out from under the car, not bothering to hide that I was here. The two HYDRA goons Widow was meeting up with immediately pointed their blasters at me. Widow whipped around to face me. I drew two of my blunt electrocuting knives and threw them at the stomachs of the goons soon after pressing the button on the hilt. The goons were immediately knocked over, then knocked out by the blast of electrical current. Widow seemed calm by body position, but her eyes told the true story. Her eyes were saying _sorry_ to me over and over again. She aimed her free hand's wrist blasters at me and shot. I yelped and rolled behind the car. I drew out a blunt, weighted knife and peeked over the top of the car. Black Widow was once again aiming her free hand's wrist blaster at me.

But she didn't account for an arrow taking the container away from her other hand.

Natasha's eyes widened in surprise as she whipped her head toward the shooter. Hawkeye stood on the cliff above with the moon glowing behind him.

"Way to go for the dramatic entrance, Clint," I muttered. I began to inch my way to the slab of rock he was standing on.

"Why'd you do it Natasha?" Hawkeye asked angrily, "We've been partners for years!" I reached the cliff of rock and began to look for handholds and foot holds.

"I think the real question is why did _you_ do it!" Widow shot back. I momentarily paused in climbing up the rock face. _Now_ , I was confused. Wasn't Natasha the traitor? Why was she accusing Hawkeye?

 _"She may be trying to pin the blame on your mentor,"_ Midgard suggested.

 _"Congrats on the close-to-normal sentence,"_ I thought back sarcastically. But I bit my lip in nervousness as I began to climb faster. Midgard did have a reasonable idea about that. And if Widow was blaming Clint, then SHIELD would believe her more, since they don't exactly trust Hawkeye's background, which is completely about their paranoia. I quickly ascended to the top. I threw myself over the top of the ledge. But I was too late. SHIELD was already attacking my mentor. And I didn't attack them. Out of all of the things I didn't do, I didn't protect my mentor. Why? Because my stupid brain was too confused and conflicted. Stupid. I didn't do anything, and just stood there, useless.

Until Black Widow decided to try to blast Hawkeye.

Then, I felt rage. At myself, for not doing anything. At Widow, for betraying us. Heck, even at Hawkeye, for not letting me go out in the field! I let all today's frustrations out in one scream.

"NO!" I yelled. Immediately after my outburst, a dome of rock rose up around Hawkeye, protecting him. The SHIELD agents, along with Widow, turned towards me, obviously just as stunned as I was. I took in the sight of the rock dome, then looked down at myself.

"New directive!" Widow ordered, the first to be out of her state of surprise, "Take down the mutant!"

 _Mutant_? I wasn't a mutant! I passed the stupid exams Fury gave for mutant detection! I backed away from the oncoming SHIELD agents.

 _"Hey, divine being inside my head?"_ I asked mentally, _"You wanna teach me how to master the stupid powers now? Because they would be really useful, like, right_ now _!"_

 _"A battlefield is not somewhere to learn,"_ Midgard said crossly, _"It is where you test the learning."_

 _"I_ n _case you haven't noticed, I'm being attacked by SHIELD agents who think I'm a mutant!"_ I growled at Midgard, _"I would like to_ prevent _being caught!"_

 _"I-"_ she was interrupted as I dodged a blaster shot aimed for my head, _"I_ _n_ _short, you must focus your concentration around a piece of Earth that you wish to control,"_ Midgard explained quickly.

 _"Didn't I do something with my emotions back there, trying to protect Hawkeye?"_ I asked the divine soul.

 _"That is a more last resort technique that I will explain to you in the near future,"_ Midgard said, _"Now fight!"_ Didn't need to tell me twice. I quickly leaped over a SHIELD agent's head and concentrated on the gap of rock between us. A small ledge of rock raised up, so when the agent whirled around, he tripped. I took out my electrical dagger and stabbed it into the machinery he wore. The armor shut down.

"One down," I muttered, "About nine more to go." I looked back at the dome of rock. "I still can't believe I did that."

 _"Neither can I,"_ Midgard commented in my head, _"It takes a great deal of concentration or emotion to do that."_

"I dunno about concentration, but I have plenty of emotion," I muttered as I managed to raise another ledge against an incoming SHIELD agent. This time, unfortunately, he used his stupid jetpack to fly over it, then knock me to the ground. Before I could react, the skin in my neck was broken by a needle. Cold serum filtered into my neck. After a lot of struggling, I threw the agent off me and stood up. I ignored the dizzying feeling the serum had caused and glared at the SHIELD agent. I was about to do something with my powers until I felt a searing pain in the break in my backbone. I cried out in pain and fell to the ground. I struggled to push myself up, but only succeeded in rolling myself onto my back. Black Widow towered over me, her wrist cannons still aimed at me.

"I'll get Aly - the girl into containment," Natasha said tonelessly, "Break through that rock and get the HYDRA agent out. Then, put him in the Vault. No one sees him till I give the word."

I pushed myself onto my knees, glaring at the person who I once called my friend. Maybe even family. "Hey, Tasha," I spat, grasping her attention, "I hope you rot along with the rest of HYDRA's severed heads." I started to drag myself over to the ledge of the cliff.

"You don't understand," she said, still without emotion, "Clint was a trait-"

"No, I _do_ understand," I said quietly, but with a voice full of venom, "You framed him. You accused me of being a mutant and attacked me. We trusted you. And you betrayed us." Almost there. Couple more inches. "And you know what? I think dying is a better alternative than what you have done to us." With that, I grasped the edge of the cliff and threw the rest of my body into the thin air. I released my clenched hand. And I fell. I fell, listening to Widow's scream and the crackle of SHIELD agents' com-links. What a way to die.

Or at least, what a way to think you're dying.

* * *

I woke up to a jolt of being set down. I immediately tried to sit up, but due to the containment pod I was in and the pain in my spine and ribs, that just resulted in a banged-up head and more bruising of my already broken bones. I groaned and leaned back down again. What the heck was I doing in a containment pod anyway? I mean it wasn't like I was a wanted mutant or-

Oh. Right. Yesterday. Clint framed by Widow. Me creating a dome of rock. Me getting attacked by SHIELD. Me throwing myself off a cliff.

 _"Excuse me, but are you ever in a state of sanity?"_ Midgard asked irritably.

 _"Occasionally,"_ I replied cheekily. I winced after the silent laughter this comment caused for me. I doubt that fall helped my injuries much. Come to think of it, how did I even survive that?

"The girl is awake," Natasha said, hovering over me, along with-

"Nick Fury," I greeted casually, "I would say what an honor it is to meet you, but considering the circumstances, I'm going to refrain from that."

"She's every bit like her mentor," Director Fury chuckled, then grew serious, "Now, Alyx Taylor. I have a deal for you." Before he could even say anything, I burst out laughing. It hurt my ribs, sure, but seriously? This was too _ridiculous_ to not laugh at.

 _"_ Okay, let me get this straight," I said in sarcastically considering voice, "You want me to make a deal with you, the director of the agency which accused my mentor wrongly of betrayal and classified me as a mutant."

"It may be your only chance at freedom," Fury pointed out, "Now, the deal: You return to SHIELD as a black ops agent." One of my eyebrows were raised. "You will say that Hawkeye was a traitor, no matter what you believe." Two eyebrows raised. "Black Widow will be your partner." Now, both my eyebrows were fully raised.

"You actually think I'm going to - Wow. You really don't know me at all," I snorted, "There is no way I will: return to the agency that locked my mentor up, say something I don't believe, or trust _her-"_ I glared at Widow, "-ever again. If those are the conditions I have to live for, I could care less about my freedom. I could care more for not looking like someone who does something only for herself. If I wasn't in this stupid containment pod, I would probably punch you for even thinking so."

Fury looked at me as if he had been expecting this outburst the whole time. "Alright. Don't say I never gave you another option." He turned to Widow. "Contact the Mutant Response Division. We'll keep her in containment here on the helicarrier, but they can study her modified DNA."

"You know I'm not a mutant, right?" I asked. When all I got in reply was silence, I sighed in exasperation. "I'm not. So I'd rather you not take my blood." No reply. SHIELD agents came into the room and hefted the containment pod. They carried the pod that had me in it to a vault. More like a prison cell. They set the pod down on the floor, then hurried out. Almost immediately after I was set down, little metal arms attached with needles and vials unfolded from inside the pod. I brought my arm up jutted out my elbow towards the glass cover. I yelped as all I got from this attempt of escape was a injured elbow. I started wrenching the metal arms out from their circuitry and fashioning a knife of sorts. It was starting to become really hard to keep the metal arms from getting my blood, as more of them were unfolding from the inside of the pod. After ten more wrenched out metal arms, I had a crudely-made knife in my hand. Without hesitation, I stabbed the knife upward, into the glass. I closed my eyes a split second before the glass shattered. I opened them a second after I heard the glass break and practically jumped out of the pod. I then all but collapsed onto the ground, taking in rapid gulps of air.

 _"Calm,"_ Midgard said gently to me, _"Be calm."_ My breathing eventually slowed to a more steady and less erratic pace.

"Thanks," I mumbled, out loud before I could stop myself.

 _"It did not cause any problem,"_ Midgard said. She changed her tone to a more curious voice, _"You are certainly resourceful in these situations."_

 _"I'm kinda supposed to be,"_ I replied mentally, _"I_ was _in training to become a SHIELD agent."_

 _"Ah, yes,"_ Midgard said, then suggested, _"I assume you can use your resourcefulness to get out of here?"_

I grinned maniacally, then replied, _"Oh yeah."_

I carefully inspected my surroundings. Heavy duty door and metal walls. Yep. I was going to break out of here, _easy_. But I needed time.

A _lot_ of time.

* * *

 **Oooh...sooo, Alyx has powers! And SHIELD is pretty much screwing her life over. I'm changing the rating for this to T because there will be alcohol and violence now, along with mild language.**

 **Sooooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	3. Chapter 3

**ONWARD BOUND!**

 **2 weeks later**

 **Third person P.O.V.**

The four agent escort walked down to the vault, like they did every day since the classified mutant had been captured. One of them, the captain, carried a plastic tray with inedible-looking lumps of food and a glass of water.

"I don't get it," one of the lower-classed agents grumbled, "Why do we even give her food and water if she never takes it?"

The captain gave the less experienced agent a warning glare before he said, "Classified." The agent who had asked the question rolled his eyes, but had enough sense to keep his mouth shut. The captain took out his access card as they arrived at the cell the girl had been placed in. Only the captain entered; the rest of the agents stood guard outside. They looked bored as they took their positions; this process happened every day for two weeks. It wasn't like the girl was going to do anything different. The SHIELD captain took a few paces across the floor, then took the tray and slid it across the floor over to the former SHIELD trainee. The girl sitting in the corner with her eyelids tightly shut looked like a shadow of her former self. Her skin was no longer a healthy tan; it was a deathly, unhealthy-looking white. Her previously light auburn hair now showed a stringy texture and looked more grayed. The outline of her bone structure was clearly seen through the grey training clothing. The girl cracked her once-brilliant, now-glassy pale green orbs open at the scraping sound of the tray against the floor.

She laughed softly. "C'mon," she chuckled, "You ought to know what I do by now. I'm not touching this stuff. So you can go ahead and report to your little science buddies that you failed to get my DNA...again." When the captain raised an eyebrow, the girl scoffed, "I was trained by two black ops SHIELD agents. I know every tactic and strategy you use, however boring it was to stay awake in those lectures."

"I think all we want here," the captain said quietly, "Is to know what happened to you."

"For the last time," the girl sighed, "A divine entity transferred a part of her soul and power into me in order to help me live, since the injuries the Hulk inflicted were more than enough to kill me. Which I don't really blame him for, since I probably would have done the same thing if someone burned and electrocuted me."

The captain cleared his throat, wanting to get back to the actual focus of the conversation, "More about the divine entity."

"Jeez, Quartermain," she yawned, "I've told you this already; every day, in fact." The captain stared daggers at the girl. "Alright, whatever. The divine entity inside me is a embodiment of Midgard. Or Earth. Or our dimension. Whatever you want to call it. And that's all I'm going to tell you. Just like that's all I told you yesterday."

"If your DNA isn't altered, then you shouldn't have a problem giving it to us," Quartermain reasoned.

"It's a question of pride, Clay," the girl yawned and closed her eyes again, "I would rather not be treated as I human lab rat."

Then she stayed that way. No matter how many questions Quartermain battered her with, he could not get a single other thing out of Alyx Taylor. Just like the norm of the past thirteen days.

The fourteenth day, however, was different. The SHIELD agents might not have known it, but this day was the day the 'mutant' had been aiming for.

Quartermain sighed and walked out of the room. Just like the past thirteen days. But unlike the last thirteen days, instead of just sitting cross-legged in the corner with her eyes closed as he exited, her pale green eyes, sparking with determination, shot open as the first exiting footsteps were caught by her ears. She silently, but quickly positioned her legs under her in a frog-like crouch. The camera monitoring her shattered as she pushed off of the floor and sprung off it, right onto Quartermain's back. He gave out a cry of surprise, but the girl swiftly took his access card and leaped over to the door. She quickly swiped the card, then closed the door behind her. The agents immediately turned their eyes and guns to the escapee. She smirked, amused, and grabbed one of the guns and threw it on the floor, then slammed her body into the now weaponless agent into one of his armed comrades. Once they were both on the ground, she jammed her fist into the guard without a weapon's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. She punched the other with the weapon in the face, knocking him out cold. She turned towards the last guard. He was fumbling with his com-link and yelling for reinforcements.

"Lieutenant Hill, the mutant has escaped! She has locked the captain in her cell and taken out the two other escorting agents! I need back-" the agent's frantic call for help was cut off by a fist in his face. The girl had rushed over to the agent and knocked him out.

She wrenched the com-link from his hand and said lazily into it, as though she was sitting on a couch watching TV, "Hey, Maria. Miss me?"

 **"Alyx. You were certainly one of the most resourceful, weren't you?"**

"Need to be. After all, I was the only one who passed the exams." Alyx started running down the halls.

 **"You can still be a great agent Alyx."**

"Yeah right. I'm not going to give you anything. Not my DNA, and sure as hell not my loyalty."

 **"Alyx-"**

"Bye Maria." Alyx flung the com-link to the floor. The girl knew that they would be able to track her with the com-link. She had only bothered talking to Maria to lead them off in a different direction than she was going. As soon as she dropped the com-link she ran in the opposite direction of the way she was going.

 _"You're most welcome for the help of keeping you alive for the past thirteen days,"_ a certain divine entity's voice echoed inside Alyx's head. The said girl rolled her eyes.

 _"Thanks Midgard,"_ she thought, _"But did we really have to do it after only about two weeks? I thought I told you at the very minimum I needed one month."_

 _"I would not have been able to keep you alive without food and water for much longer,"_ Midgard said crossly.

 _"Hey, not my fault that they wanted my DNA,"_ Alyx replied defensively, _"SHIELD is being idiotic and calling me a mutant."_ Alyx skidded around a corner to face-

"Oh, yay." Alyx said tonelessly to the mass of SHIELD agents in front of her, guns aimed at the escapee, "An ambush. Care to give me a hand here?"

"Stand down mutant!" the lead officer ordered, "We are not here to help an escaped prisoner."

"And _I_ wasn't talking to any of you," Alyx snapped before a wall of metal erupted in between the SHIELD agents and the girl. While the SHIELD agents were baffled at what had happened, Alyx muttered "Jerk," then simply turned around and found a new hallway to run in.

 _"You do know you don't have to ask me for help, do you not?"_ Midgard asked, _"The power is your now; I could not take it back if I tried. I am only here to mentor you in it."_

 _"I know,"_ Alyx replied, _"But I had no idea you - I could do that. Is it because the metal comes from the ground? Or did I use the air pressure to force the metal up?"_

 _"Both work well,"_ Midgard replied, _"You just need to concentrate. But if you take on something huge or more complex-"_

 _"Yeah, yeah,"_ Alyx finished carelessly, _"I'll die. Or be sent into a major coma."_

 _"This is no joking matter!"_ Midgard snarled, suddenly enraged, _"You could die!"_

 _"I've been in that situation before."_

 _"You are insufferable."_

 _"I've been told that before too."_

This mental argument probably would have continued forever, unless Alyx had not mistakenly walked into the main control room of the helicarrier. Which had pretty much an army of SHIELD agents assembled in it.

"Okay," Alyx mumbled, "This definitely complicates the escape plan." As quickly as she had burst in, she ran out into the hall. She chose to run wherever the hall took her, without a map or anything of the sort. Hey, even SHIELD couldn't predict the unpredictable. Hopefully.

"All units, after the prisoner!" Maria. Alyx sighed as more problems were piled on her plate. Her escape was not going as smoothly as hoped. She looked ahead of her to see she needed to round a corner, then looked back for two seconds to see the amount of people chasing her. Then, of course-

 _CLANG!_

She _had_ to crash into a billionaire in high tech armor. Because her day was going so great already.

"I told SHIELD that I wanted noth-" the armored billionaire started angrily, then took a better look at who had bumped into him. "What's a kid doing on the SHIELD helicarrier?" he questioned.

"I'm almost thirteen!" Alyx shouted indignantly.

"A skeleton kid at that," he commented, as though Alyx hadn't said anything.

"Look, bolts for brains, I would love to reply to that, but I have somewhere to be," she snapped. Without another word, she pushed past him and ran down the rest of the hall.

"What the-"

"Iron Man!"

The billionaire groaned. SHIELD again. He turned around and faced the incoming agents. "What is it this time?"

"Have you seen the escapee?" Quartermain, who had apparently gotten free, asked.

"Who now?" the genius asked, confused.

"The girl!" he elaborated.

"You'll have to elaborate more than that," Iron Man said, crossing his arms.

"How many twelve year old girls have you seen on this helicarrier?" Quartermain asked indignantly.

"Oh, skeleton girl?" he asked, pretending to be clueless, "Yeah, she went that way," he said, pointing his finger into a _different_ hallway than the one Alyx had taken.

"Move it people!" Quartermain shouted.

Iron Man waited until all the agents had taken off into the separate hallway, then took off after the girl, wanting to find some answers of his own.

 **Alyx's P.O.V.**

Run. Run. Run. That single word pounded through my mind as I took off into the hall. I would rather not spend the rest of my life held in captivity by SHIELD, thank you very much. I ignored my untreated injuries as I ran. Had to find a way up to the top. Anything that gave me access to the outside, really.

"C'mon, c'mon," I muttered, "Stairs or elevators, anything that can go up, really."

I skidded to a halt when I heard voices vibrating through the hallway. I kept my back up against a wall and managed to keep my breathing more or less silent as I heard SHIELD agents' footsteps fade away. I warily checked for any residual SHIELD agents, then began to rush down that hall too. I immediately stopped, however, when I saw the elevator. Oh, my savior. I quickly entered the elevator with a quick check around for SHIELD agents. Then I pressed the button to go to the top and leaned my head against the cold metal interior wall. My eyes shot open to attention when the elevator doors opened to let in a SHIELD agent.

I mentally scowled at the sight of him. Eric O'Grady.

Backstory time. When they were trying to find a fit for my mentor, he was one of the suggested options. I spent _two hours_ with him, and I wondered why he had even been suggested as a mentor for me. Why? He and I were basically exact opposites. While he went around like an obedient puppy following every command he was given, I was more rebellious. I always questioned orders and sometimes refused them. He just followed orders like a mindless robot. Also, he didn't really care about mentoring me. He just did it for more recognition.

Anyway, back to the present.

He had a tablet in his hand, and was completely absorbed by it. When he looked up to get in the elevator, he was in for quite a surprise. Me. His eyes widened at the sight of the escaped prisoner (me). He was probably going to sound the alarm if I didn't pull him into the elevator and knock the tablet out of his hand. After a brief fight, which I won, I soon enough had him in a headlock. He struggled to get out for the first twenty seconds, but then fell limp after he had been deprived of his needed oxygen. No, he wasn't dead, just knocked out. Once I was sure he was out cold, I released my hold around his neck and stood up again. Thankfully, there were no more interruptions in the rest of the ride up to the top. Once the elevator had arrived at the top, I poked my head out to see if there was anyone. Nope. Probably looking for me on the lower levels.

Idiots.

I walked out of the elevator and took a moment to steady my walk against the wind.

"Now what are you going to, Taylor?" I asked myself. I carefully walked over to the edge of the plane platform of the helicarrier to see where SHIELD had positioned their flying base. Over New York City apparently. Which was actually quite perfect. Perfect place for disappearing.

The only question was how I was going to get there safely from about 6500 feet in the air.

Wait. I almost facepalmed when I realized the most obvious solution, but seeing as I needed to maintain balance on the edge of the plane platform, I refrained from doing so.

I could control Midgardian atmosphere. Duh.

Except I had no idea how to control wind. Darn.

Well, time to pop into my mind and ask my favorite divine entity how to do that!

 _"Midgard?"_ I asked _, "You there?"_

 _"I will tell you when I take leave,"_ Midgard said, sounding irritated.

 _"Alright, jeez, sorry,"_ I thought with a raised eyebrow. What was up with her? _"How exactly do you control winds? Since, you know, they're moving?"_

 _"Feel the wind,"_ Midgard said in her same cold tone, _"This way, you will be able to feel the flow. If you understand the flow correctly, you will be able to command its spirit to change the flow to support you."_

 _"And if I don't understand the flow correctly?"_ I asked.

 _"Then you will undoubtedly plummet to your death,"_ Midgard said, emotionless, _"Unless you convince the earth or water to catch you."_

 _"Thanks Midgard,"_ I thought sarcastically, _"You're helping my self-doubt grow and grow."_

 _"Well, perhaps if you took the risk of your own life more seriously,"_ Midgard said, still with a lack of warmth in her voice, _"Then I wouldn't have to pull you into reality to see what you are risking."_

 _"What, my life?"_ I asked, then laughed a little, _"I've risked that more than I would like, but what the hell? Puts a little fun into life."_

 _"Well, you are risking my soul too!"_ Midgard finally snapped. I felt my heart die a little. Oh. That's what Midgard was worried about. Her own life. Her own existence in her own realm. Not mine. I felt ice slowly forming a barrier around my heart, protecting it from further harm. Just like it did after I - nope, not going to talk about that.

 _"Well, should I just risk my - oh, I'm sorry,_ your _soul to survive for_ you, _of course,_ " I thought with the same lack of warmth Midgard had shown.

 _"No, that is not-"_

 _"I think I know exactly what you meant,"_ I snapped, _"You want_ you _to survive. I could die for all you care. But you need my soul alive for_ your _existence. I understand."_ The last bit of ice formed over. _"My parents never viewed me as valued either."_ I probably should have felt self-pity at mentioning my parents. But right now, I wasn't exactly feeling anything. The ice had formed a unshakable barrier around my emotions. No one could shake that barrier. No one really ever did.

Except Hawkeye. And soon after, Widow. They were the 9.0 earthquake that broke the ice around my heart. But Hawkeye was locked up, presumably in the Vault. Widow betrayed us. So the ice had formed again. And I'm 99.99% positive there won't be anymore 9.0 earthquake people.

I blocked out Midgard's pleads for forgiveness and looked the long way down to the ground. I could at least try the wind thing. I mean, it was worth a shot. I didn't want to die if I could avoid it. Obviously.

I exhaled softly and reached out my hand to touch the rushing wind.

"Hello?" I whispered.

 _I am free._

I jumped slightly at the wraith-like voice. Then, I cleared my throat and then said, "Hi. Um, I was wondering if you could help me not plummet to my doom?"

 _I am free. I do not take commands._

"Sorry, just wondering," I said apologetically. I started to turn away, thinking of some other insane scheme to get me of the helicarrier when the winds' voice traveled to my ears.

 _You seem to be the first to acknowledge me as an equal. Why?_

"You have thoughts of your own," I said, turning back and shrugging.

 _You treat me much better than Midgard has._

"I know the feeling," I grumbled, thinking back to our argument a few seconds ago, "Just be glad you don't have her in your head."

 _She transferred into you?_

"Yeah," I started, then said sarcastically, "My life was so normal before that. Sneaking onto my mentor's ship. Taking down international threats. Throwing daggers." A light whistling ran through my ears. It took me a moment or two to realize the wind was laughing.

 _Your caustic personality is amusing._

"Thanks," I said, smiling slightly, "What should I call you? I mean, the name Wind can get sort of confusing."

 _Zephyr. I am Zephyr._

"Alyx," I said, my faint smile still remaining. Zephyr was an earthquake, but more like a 2.0. Not strong enough to break the ice around my emotions. My smile faded as my figurative ice recovered from being jostled by the 2.0.

 _You seem to be a generous person, but are haunted by your inner demons._

"Psychiatrist much?" I joked.

 _Tell me, do you have other friends?_

"Well, one of them is in prison because he was framed," I explained, "And the other turned out to be the one who framed him."

 _That is...unfortunate._

"Yeah, tell me about it," I snorted, "It's like life and fate hate me."

"What in the world are you doing, skeleton girl?"

I jumped up and got in a fighting stance. And...it was bolts for brains. A.K.A. The guy in the high tech armor. I preferred the name bolts for brains, though.

"Here to get me for SHIELD?" I growled.

"Actually, I'm here to ask what the heck a kid like you is doing on the helicarrier. But that was before you started doing that weird rasping thing," he explained, "Now I want to know what the heck you were just doing."

I turned my head back toward Zephyr quickly. "Hey Zephyr, we're going to do a trust exercise."

 _What is this exercise of trust?_

"I'm going to fall and you have to catch me. Got it?" If she didn't, I was probably going to fall to my death.

 _I will try to succeed in this exercise of trust._

"There! You did it again!" the armored man exclaimed.

"Did I?" I said innocently, "Oh well. I'm sorry I have to cut this short, but I gotta go!" I gave him a good-bye salute and smirked as I hopped off the helicarrier. I heard him yell as my body was thrown through the rushing air. Yeah, I was taking a risk. But I do that as a daily routine.

 _"C'mon, Zephyr,"_ I thought, _"Please don't let me die."_

A sudden, strong push of air kept my body elevated. I felt at first surprised by this, but then, as I got used to it, I yelled out in excitement. Eventually the wind set me down gently at one of the docks.

"YEAH!" I yelled after my feet touched ground.

 _Did I succeed the exercise of trust?_

"Succeed?" I asked incredulously, "You exceeded it Zephyr!"

 _I am glad I could help._

"Thanks, Zephyr," I said, a bit calmer, "I hope I can return the favor one day."

 _You have been better company than I have had in decades. I could ask nothing more than my trust in you and your trust in me._

"You got it Zephyr," I reassured her, "You'll have a friend in me. Unless you find Midgard in me. Then you won't."

 _Farewell, friend Alyx._

"See ya round," I grinned. My grin quickly faded as I took in my situation. No money. No friends in high places.

Oh, and SHIELD was going to be coming after me. Just fine and dandy.

I shoved my hands into my pockets as I made my way to the more crowded places of NYC. Easier to lose people in. I warily looked around me. My eyes soon caught two people that stood out. Dressed in perfect suits, and desperately trying to look inconspicuous while tailing me. And failing miserably. I smirked and traveled faster through the crowds. I managed to slip into an alleyway to wait out the agents tailing me.

Unfortunately, they could predict my actions a lot better than SHIELD did.

I felt a cloth being pressed over my mouth and nose. Immediately, I tried to push it off, but the man holding me in place was stronger than me. I kept struggling until the drug the cloth was soaked in started to take effect on my body. My struggling became weaker. My vision became more dotted with darkness. My conscientiousness started to slip away from me, like I was holding it with greasy fingers.

But I wasn't done fighting. The man had already assumed I was weakened, so it was easier to throw him off now. I steadied myself against a wall as I flickered in and out of awareness. Stay awake, I kept telling myself. Stay awake. It was starting to get easier.

Before a fist was slammed into the side of my face.

* * *

Cheaters. That's the first word that came to my mind when I returned to awareness. My kidnappers were cheaters. Drugging people was cheating in a fight. It wasn't fair. Yeah, I was being childish. But that's sorta my attitude right there. Along with immature. And sarcastic. I opened my eyes immediately, wanting to get it over with. I blinked several times at the bright light of the sun, eyes watering at the sudden intensity. After a few seconds, my eyes had adjusted to the light to my right me. Windows. I tried to stand up. Tried being to operative word. I felt something keeping me up above the ground...where the heck was I?

I looked up and down at the rest of me. Metal chains and braces circling my wrists hung me from me ceiling. And my captors were idiotic enough to leave my feet unrestrained. Stupid. I rolled my neck to loosen up, then started to pull my legs up. I interlaced them with the restraining chains and began to climb the length of ten feet to the ceiling. Once I got up to the fasteners that held to chains up on the ceiling, I began to break them off. When I broke off the last chain, I brace myself for impact with the floor by preparing to land on my feet, sorta like a cat. My body rushed through the air, hurtling toward the ground at a surprising speed. Even as I landed on my feet, perfectly, I might add, it sent a wave of shock up my not-completely-healed backbone. I bit back a scream as I felt a that part of my spine shatter again from this force, and settled for nearly biting my tongue off. I wanted to take my time getting up, but seeing that I had caused a loud commotion with the breaking the chains off the ceiling and what-not, my captors would probably soon be after me. I grimaced in pain as I stood up fully. I really needed to stop with the breaking bones thing. It was getting annoying. I began to walk, to test out how much pain this would cause me. Answer: a lot. I couldn't hold back a scream this time without biting my tongue off, so I decided to scream. Hey, I liked my tongue!

"This way!" I heard a gruff voice command. I cursed under my breath. I had just given away where I was. Great. So, run and cause myself extreme pain and _maybe_ get away? Or surrender?

Pfft. Just kidding. Course I wasn't going to surrender! I gritted my teeth as I pushed off my feet into a sprint. My teeth felt like they were going to break each other. I really hoped it didn't add up to that.

"There!" a familiar, feminine voice said, "Fools! Don't let her escape!" I almost skidded to a halt and ran back to punch that person in the face when I realized who it was.

Natasha.

Hooray. My mentor's former partner was the one who captured me, presumably for HYDRA.

"Czechoslovakia," I muttered. I normally uttered random words or names to keep myself from swearing. I never have sworn in my life, pretty much. Mostly because it brings up bad memories. I shook my thoughts off as I tried to accelerate faster, away from my captors. "Exits, you're welcome to show yourselves," I muttered. Of course, they didn't. Wonderful.

And then Natasha _had_ to tackle me. From the back. Not helping my backbone. At all, actually.

"Give me the knockout serum!" she ordered. I still kicked and struggled. No way I was giving up without a fight to this heartless snake. I heard mumbling, then felt a piercing jab and the base of my neck. Natasha finally stopped holding me down and stood up. I struggled to get up with the same fluency, but managed it after a few moments of trying. "Why are you even trying?" Natasha asked, sounding bored, "It's clear you have lost."

"Wow, I actually thought for second you had the decency to know me," I spat, "Apparently not." I swayed on my feet as pain and darkness came over me.

"I did get to know you enough," she said mockingly, "I know you want to kill me, just like-" That was it. That tipped me over the edge. I yelled in rage and rushed at her, locking my hands around her throat, choking her of air.

"You shouldn't have said that," I snarled, tightening my grip around her neck. She only gave me a cruel smile before I was ripped away by one of her henchmen. Cheater. I fell to the floor, damaging my back even more. I yelped out in pain as I landed, but glared at Natasha as she towered over me. I could feel the effects of the serum taking over my body now. I couldn't fight anymore, even if I wanted to.

"What are you going to do now?" she smirked.

"I have three words to say to you," I growled, "Go. To. Hell." I was quite pleased with my ending statement.

You know, my ending statement before the annoying blacking out thing happened again.

* * *

 **This took for-freaking-EVER! Hope you enjoy! :D**

 **BTW, to make it clear, italicized quoted things are either thoughts or conversations between Midgard and Alyx. Just italics mean conversation between Alyx and an element.**

 **Sooooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah, I'm obsessed with this story. Deal with it.**

 **BTW, there is torture in this chapter! Don't say I didn't warn you!**

 **Natasha's P.O.V.**

I stared at the now unconscious form of Alyx. I kept my real feelings off of my facial features, but in truth?

I hated it. I hated this undercover op ever since I had to frame Hawkeye. I have had to lock up my partner and his trainee and have had to act like HYDRA's loyal dog this whole time.

"Lieutenant," one of my men asked, "Your orders?"

I resumed my personality and thoughts as a HYDRA lieutenant. "Chain her up," I said coldly, "And make sure to secure her legs this time too. That's probably how she escaped in the first place. But we need to move locations. This _commotion_ will have drawn the attention of the authorities."

"Of course, Lieutenant," the agent said, the asked warily, "Where is the new location?"

"One of the loading ports," I said, adjusting my wrist blasters, "Use one of the storage containers to keep her in."

"Move out men!" the agent commanded. I looked at Alyx's limp body being chained up by HYDRA agents, full of regret. Just follow your orders, I thought, then I'll explain everything to her after this hell is over.

What I didn't know was what HYDRA was going to make me do, that would scar Alyx forever.

 **Alyx's P.O.V.**

I awoke to a very nice electric shock coursing through me. Note the sarcasm. My opened along with a gasp of pain escaping from my mouth. Which I shouldn't have done. Since that gave them the clue they needed to know how much pain I could tolerate. Brilliant, Taylor. I blinked a couple times to adjust my sight to my surroundings. Dank, dark, and HYDRA. Great. My day was going absolutely great. I tried moving, but this time, along with the same set up of my arms hanging from the ceiling, HYDRA was smart enough to chain up my feet. Wow, 'HYDRA' and 'smart' in the same sentence. With no 'not' in it. This day is full of surprises.

I was snapped out of my 'shocking' experience (yeah, terrible, I know) by the creaking of a door opening. I raised my eyebrows as the two HYDRA officers walked up to me. I knew both of them. One from the SHIELD files. Madame Viper. The other, I knew personally.

Black Widow.

I rolled my eyes as they Viper went into a rant. I blanked out most of it, but I caught, "SHIELD was too afraid to harm you to get what they needed. We are not. With this strength, we will take control of your power, and make the greatest weapons out of people ever!" Normal super villain rant, you know.

But, wait! There's more!

She finished up her speech with praise to Widow. "Widow, you have proven your loyalty to HYDRA by bringing this girl in. I will give you the honor of collecting the blood sample." Viper handed her a long knife. I felt my eyes go wide around. Widow was going to stab me.

I reminded myself to beat the crap out of her next time I get a chance.

Widow let no emotion show on her face and took the knife and began to circle around me. My breathing took a turn for the worse. It became more shallow and rapid. I tried to steady it, but it just got worse. I instead tensed up my jawline, gritting my teeth together.

"What's wrong?" Viper asked, faking innocence, "Is someone scared?"

"Go to hell," I hissed through my clenched teeth. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Pay more respect to the people who are doing the honor of killing you," she hissed.

"Do you have any idea how idiotic that sounds?" I asked, "Because it really-" I was cut short by my own scream from a excruciating pain boring through my back all the way through the upper torso of my body. I looked through the bleary haze of pain to my abdomen. I felt horrified, scared, and pretty much everything else I tried not to be when I saw the tip of the blade sticking through my body. I yelled out again as Natasha roughly jerked and twisted the blade inside me, breaking at least three of my ribs. I felt tears start and begin to run down my face. Tears that had not been shed since the six years ago. I clenched my teeth till I thought they would break as Natasha withdrew the blade from my back.

"A good choice Widow," Viper commented, "Stabbing her in the aorta will definitely weaken her." Wonderful. Tasha had stabbed me in one of the most essential arteries of my body. She turned back toward me. "Do you have anything more to say now?" Viper asked smugly.

I glared at her, then spat out, "Go to hell _please_." See? I was being more respectful. Sort of.

Viper narrowed her eyes at me. Then she left silently with Widow trailing behind her. Before she closed the door, Natasha gave me a look. It said sorry. I was too busy grimacing in pain to react. And if I did react, I would have gave her a look that would have killed her. You know, if looks could actually kill. When they left, I groaned in pain. It felt like white-hot fire was traveling through my wound and into my body. Then reality hits me. Hard.

Natasha Romanoff was my torturer and soon-to-be killer. She was a lying, two-faced HYDRA bastard. She was no longer the person I would have trusted with my life, now that my life was actually in her hands. She was going to be who killed me,and she wasn't going to bat an eyelash when she did it. She imprisoned my mentor and was now going to kill me.

With that happy note, I drifted off into oblivion.

I was awakened to my lovely prison surroundings by a sharp, acute pain in my torso. I yelped and opened my eyes, struggling to get out of my restraints. No such luck.

"I thought that would wake you up," Viper smirked as she took out the sharp blade. Only this time, I had been stabbed in the front, so I had large, gaping holes on either sides of my body.

"Didn't I ask you to go to hell?" I snarled out, mostly because of the pain, " _Nicely?_ "

"Oh well," she said lazily, "I didn't come here to talk about me. I'm here to ask you some things."

"And what makes you think I'm going to give some answers?" I growled.

She gave me a devilish, maniacal grin. "Pain," she answered, with a look of complete _crazy_ on her face. I narrowed my eyes at her as she walked over to a table with a beaker full of...something or other. I don't know, I was training to be a SHIELD agent, not a scientist! She dropped a bit of the beaker's content onto her knife. The knife faintly hissed as the chemicals made contact with it. I glared at Viper as she emptied the beakers contents onto the knife. She was not going to break me. I was not going to be broken ever again. It hurt enough the first time, I didn't want a redo. She circled around to my back, where Widow had stabbed me just the the day before. Or night before. I didn't know; there wasn't a clock in this hellhole.

I struggled again, screaming as Viper carved her knife into my back through my clothing. It was bad enough with a knife, but the chemicals were what seemed to be causing the most pain. Which was bad, since the knife itself was excruciating enough. The chemicals on the knife seemed to eat through the cloth on my body as well as the flesh itself surrounding where Viper had been dragging her blade through my back. My back felt like it was being pressed against a white-hot iron. I screeched and tried to hold back tears as Viper still carved into my skin, spreading the white-hot flames across my back. The knife was suddenly removed from my back, allowing me a moment of slight relief.

"Why weren't the DNA samples different?" she hissed into my ear, "What gave you your powers?"

"Of sarcasm?" I joked, however dire the situation was, "I think you have Hawkeye to blame for-" I was cut off by my own screams from the feeling of absolute pain being carved into my back. Unfortunately, it seemed to have gotten worse, if that was possible. Viper was carving into my exposed flesh now, since the acid, as I now knew it, had eaten through to my flesh, making my pain more excruciating. Tears of pain now flowed freely from my eyes.

"You know how second degree burns are better than third degree?" Viper asked coolly, "While third degree are life-long damage, they burn away the nerves, which takes away pain. But second degree-" she turned the blade in my flesh, releasing a scream of curse words in multiple languages from my mouth, "-doesn't. It puts the blade in direct contact where you feel it most. Your nervous system." She continued to carve into my flesh through my screaming of multiple curses in several languages. It felt like hours until she finally stopped. By then, I almost blacked out from the pain. But I held on. Because I wouldn't give them the pleasure of knowing they had beaten me into submission. That's what blacking out was. Giving up. And if there was anything I wasn't, it was a quitter. I weakly rose my head when Viper had removed the blade for a longer period of time than usual. Was the torture over? Answer:

Not by a long shot.

But the good news is that it was over for the next few hours. Yeah, I know. Talk about lowered expectations.

"I'll be back," she said to me, placing the blade on the table as she walked out of...wherever I was.

"Bye, Schwarzenegger," I said, managing sarcasm and an eye roll with what little strength I had left. She gave me a glare that I was sure meant that she was going to carve into me with that knife again. But instead, she just left and slammed the door behind her. I gave a sigh of relief, which was almost immediately disproved by the pain in my back. I winced as I struggled in my restraints, but did it anyway. I wanted, no, _needed_ to get out of here. Sure, dying was okay, but not long, drawn-out painful dying by the hand of someone who has emotionally scarred you. I would rather it be quick.

Wow. I was actually considering killing myself. Thanks a lot, Natasha. I tugged on my chains once more before I fell limp, tears falling from my eyes. Why even bother to fight? It would take a huge miracle for me to even _attempt_ escaping from this place.

Then again, my life hasn't exactly been predictable. Or normal by any standards. I wonder where Midgard went off to? Did she find another human to possess since this one was endangering her soul too much? I wouldn't doubt it. She said she wouldn't be able to take away my powers, but if she left, I'm pretty sure she'd do anything to try.

Anyway, getting off topic.

I warily looked around my prison. It looked like the inside of one of those shipping containers. Not that this observation narrowed anything down; there have got to be at least a ten thousand shipping containers in New York City. Assuming that I even was in New York anymore.

Great. I could be in any shipping container in the world. I examined my chains a little more closely. They looked metallic, but-

I tried bending the metal to my will. If it actually originated from the earth, then I should have been able to control it, concentration or not. Midgard said emotions, which I had plenty of right now, could be used too. But it didn't even move. Conclusion:

"Synthetic," I muttered. Smart. They don't exactly know my powers, but they are taking every precaution they can. I tried focusing on the metal shipping container around me, but that seemed to dampen my consciousness even more.

To put it in the most straightforward way, I was locked up in any random shipping container in the world that also prevented me from using supernatural means to get out.

To put it lightly, I was screwed. Completely.

I sighed exasperatedly as I drifted off into sleep.

That mistake seemed to break me even more.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 _ **The five year old girl was curled up on the ground, in fetal position. She whimpered as she ran her hands over the bruises and cuts she had gotten from the last few times her parents had come home from their "work". They weren't happy. Something about a shield being there and disrupting their deal. When the girl had tried to ask about it, she had gotten beaten. Rule number one in the Taylor household: Don't ask questions. Second rule: Don't interfere with their work. But still, the inquisitive, curious girl had asked and pried. The child carefully got up, trying to making sure not to reopen any of the scabbing wounds. She cringed at the pain as she lifted herself off the ground and to the door of her room. She opened the door and stepped lightly on the creaky floorboards. She flinched at the sound of her parents' harsh voices downstairs, along with another unfamiliar, frightened voice.**_

 _ **"Where is the shipment?" her father asked harshly, as he pounded his fist against a...something.**_

 _ **"I don't know!" a feminine voice cried, sobbing, "Please, I have a fami-"**_

 _ **"Yeah, well, so do I," her mother's cold voice said, "And that doesn't change the fact of this business. Now, we'll ask one more time. Where. Is. The. Shipment?"**_

 _ **The girl had now sneaked down to the first level of her house, hiding in the shadows of the stair banisters. She watched her father, pale green eyes glaring dangerously, fingering his pistol like he wanted to shoot it. Her mother leaned against a wall, cleaning her nails and rearranging her light auburn hair. A frightened looking woman was bound to one of the dining table chairs, tears stains on her face evident.**_

 _ **"I don't know!" the woman repeated, still sobbing, "All he said was that it was being moved somewhere safer! I swear it! Please, just let me live!"**_

 _ **"I'm sorry," Mr. Taylor said, raising the gun to the woman's head, "That's not an option."**_

 _ **A blood-curdling scream from the child's lips echoed throughout the house when her father pulled the trigger.**_

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

I forced myself out of my nightmare as it got to that part. I was _not_ going to relive that.

 _"Even though you relive it every day anyway? By running what happened through your mind, torturing yourself when you don't deserve it?"_ a voice, my _normal_ mental voice (not Midgard), asked me.

 _"Shut it,"_ I grumbled at it. I tried to sit up in my bed.

Then I remembered that I wasn't in my bed on the SHIELD helicarrier. I was chained up in a random shipping container anywhere in the world that dampened my newly-developed powers that I didn't even fully understand.

Have I mentioned how much I just _love_ my life?

I hissed out of pain and exasperation of...everything in life so far, really. Why does my life have all the terrible things in it? It isn't fair!

 _"Life isn't fair,"_ the voice in my head said, _"You know that."_

I sighed, knowing the annoying voice in my head was right. I tugged at my chains in frustration. I froze as I felt a rectangular-prism-like on the chains. I felt around it and found a oddly shaped hole. When I realized what it was, I would have facepalmed if I wasn't chained up.

"Keyhole," I muttered, "C'mon, work with me." I managed to work one of my long-ish nails into the lock. It wasn't the most reliable or the fastest way of lock picking, but I really didn't have another option. I twisted the fingernail a little deeper into the lock once it fitted into a groove, after what seemed like five minutes, and inserted my nail into another groove, which seemed to take another five minutes, and finally got the lock to click out of place, releasing the chain that held my left arm. I shook some feeling into it before starting on my left leg, which took another ten minutes. I began to work on my right leg's chain as I heard some scuffling outside. I hurried up freeing myself, which broke all but one of my nails, but only took a minute. I didn't bother unlocking my right arm; it would take too much time with only one long nail. I climbed up to the ceiling attachment and wrenched it down, freeing the right arm's chain restraint.

And, as my luck would have it, Viper came back at that very moment. With Widow.

"And...I'm screwed," I mumbled, positioning myself defensively. I winced as the cuts on and in my back opened up from their scabbing over. That was going to put me at a serious disadvantage. As if I wasn't at one already, with what, two super spies attacking me? I swung my right arm back, then forward, launching the chain, still attached to my wrist, into Viper's stomach. I grabbed the knife off the side table and held it parallel to my arm in my hand.

"Stand down, prisoner!" Viper said, getting up from the ground, with Natasha aiming her wrist blasters at me.

"You're not the only one who's good with blades, Viper," I smirked. Sure, the situation may have been hopeless, but I wasn't going to just _surrender_.

Viper narrowed her eyes at me, then made her move. She rushed at me, swinging her fist out toward my shoulder. I barely managed to dodge the punch, and was caught in the stomach by her leg. I restrained myself from crying out and steadied myself on my feet. I glared at her.

"Oh," I growled, "It's on." I swung my fist towards the right side of her face. She ducked it, as expected. But what she didn't expect when she lifted her head back up was the fist swinging back. With the knife in it. She tried to duck again, but the blade already caught her shoulder. She hissed through gritted teeth as the knife tore through her skin. I felt my lips curling upwards in a triumphant smirk. Another thing I got from Hawkeye: ego. Not as big as his own ego, mind you, but still ego.

"You'll pay for that, brat!" Viper seethed.

"Sorry, don't have any money!" I quipped as I dodged her attacks.

"Widow, assist!" Viper commanded.

"I can't get a clear shot!" Ms. Betrayal replied.

"Go ahead," I said casually to Widow, "It could hit her or me. Not that you would care if it hit me anyway." Yes, I was trying to guilt-trip Widow. Low blow, but I felt she deserved it. Widow seemed to flinch momentarily, but then primed her wrist blasters and aimed. I now held Viper with my chain attachment around her neck, using her body to guard myself from any of Widow's shots. After the intense scuffle of fighting, I ended up with a blood-flowing, broken nose and a sprained wrist, but Viper came off worse with a broken jaw and arm. Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel very good about that. I held Viper in the chain lock till she passed out. I kept using her body as a shield, guarding myself. I still stared daggers at Widow as I edged my way to the container's entrance. Or, for me, exit.

"Stand down, Alyx," she said, still aiming the stupid blasters at me. I froze as she said my actual name.

"What the hell," I said quietly, but raising my voice steadily, releasing my anger as I did, "makes you think that you have the _right_ to even do that? Remember Tasha, this was all an undercover opt," ,my voice was venomous, "You aren't supposed to care. You were supposed to be a good little traitor, collecting intel, and only using us as stepping stones," ,I was spitting out my words, "So, why are you even using my name, like I'm your friend? Because I'm not. Not after what you did to Hawkeye and me." I dropped Viper's body, spreading my arms out for a clear target. I needed to see what she really cared about. You could see the surprise in her eyes in me 'giving up'.

I threw down the knife I had. The mental voice in my head was screaming at me, calling me stupid, dumb, crazy, and all the other adjectives that describe me. I ignored it and glared at my ex-family figure.

"Go ahead Natasha," I hissed, "Time to find out: were you really someone who called me by my name like a friend would? Or are you just some HYDRA scum?" I spat out the last two words.

I saw her conflicting with herself, then coming to a hardened resolution. She primed her wrist blasters at me. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that. I actually thought she might have been my friend for a moment. I gave her my best death glare, which she flinched under (no one can withstand my death glares), but then she locked her jaw.

Then she shot. And I fell into a dizzying blackness.

* * *

 **Chapter: done. Sorry it took me a while. Anyway, in future chapters I'm thinking of crossing over a little bit of Ultimate Spiderman into this story. I'm not going to name it as a crossover since the main focus will still be Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.**

 **Sooooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	5. Chapter 5

**Huh. I'm really not good at this 'update the stories you write' thing.**

 **New Key:**

 _bleh = realm talk or emphasis_

 _ **gah = other voice in head**_

 **derp = other voice talking**

 _ugh = Alyx's thoughts_

nom = spirit talk

 **meep = author stuff**

* * *

 **Third person P.O.V.**

The girl was dragged back to her chains, and locked up again; this time with _fingerprint_ scanner locks. Viper cursed herself for not thinking of it before. The girl was resourceful, she'd give her that. She stared at the girl in chains, then snorted. It wouldn't be long until she broke. They always did. It was incredible, really. She had survived the fatal blows to the spine, skull, and aorta, and yet her body was still functioning. With that ability, super soldiers could be made, and would never be killed. She smirked coldly as she turned around and walked out of the container. She'd break. She couldn't keep going forever.

No one could.

* * *

But the girl didn't woke up. She was alive, yes, but she simply didn't wake up. It seemed she was in a coma-like state, as though...hibernating.

"What is happening?" Viper demanded of a poor scientist who was checking up on the girl.

"She's still living, Madame Viper," he replied hurriedly, "But she's...asleep."

"Not knocked out or in a coma?" the scientist shook his head, "For how long now?"

"Three days. Most unnatural."

"And there is _no_ explanation for this?"

"None to be proven scientifically, no."

Viper examined the girl. The wounds she was given were...extensive, true. But from her the results of various other injuries from her fight with the Hulk, she should be healing immediately.

So _why_ wasn't it working?

* * *

In a crossroads between the nine realms, a bright flash of light filled the empty black void. A girl, barely a teen, stumbled as she appeared in the place which caused her whole problem. You know, with SHIELD and HYDRA interrogating and torturing her for information she _didn't_ have. Thick-skulled idiots.

She shook her head to free her head of thoughts as she looked up to observe her surroundings. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed together in anger, her face twisting into a scowl.

"No, no, no!" she shouted, voice rising with every word, "Not _here_ again! Why here? Why in the damned hell of our universe _here_?!"

 _"She doesn't seem very happy with your saving her life, Midgard,"_ Asgard's amused voice said.

"Like _hell_ I am!" the girl yelled, "You started this whole mess with the whole, 'You are worthy', crap!"

 _"Hush, child,"_ Midgard's mildly annoyed voice echoed throughout the black space.

"No! Screw you! I do _not_ care if I am acting like a spoiled brat! I do _not_ deserve this _mess_ that you have dragged me into!"

 _"Your mortal laws and religion would beg to differ,"_ a snarky voice said. The girl visibly paled.

"T-that was self-defense!" Alyx said, sounding more desperate than she wanted to.

 _"Was it really?"_

 _"Svartalfheim, enough. We have all watched, but the decision is mine alone."_

 _"Midgard, all you are doing right now is showing why we all decided that you needed to be reinstated through a mortal,"_ Asgard said sternly.

 _"I am fully in control of my actions,"_ Midgard's cold voice said.

 _"Which is what we are concerned about,"_ Asgard said with equal lack of warmth.

"Ahem, excuse me? Stupid, unknowing mortal in need of greater information here?"

The realms' bickering stopped at the girl's voice.

 _"It is nothing, child."_

"What, is _nothing_ the beginning of the apocalypse? Cause that's what your making it sound like!"

" _Stop complaining you stupid human!"_ Niflheim snarled suddenly, _"Your petty problems have nothing to do with our positions in this! Your opinion doesn't matter! You are insignificant!"_

The void fell silent.

 _"Niflheim, that was uncalled for,"_ Asgard said coldly.

 _"The human needs to know that the entire fate of the world rests on the fact that she is not acting like a child!"_

 _"She is still a child,"_ Midgard said defiantly, _"I only chose one so young so-"_ The divine being broke off here, seeming to check if Alyx was paying attention. The girl had been quiet after Niflheim's outburst, staring at her feet. _"Young Taylor?"_

Alyx stayed silent, staring at her feet.

 _"Wonderful. You broke the human, Niflheim."_

 _"Svartalfheim!"_

 _"Well, he did."_

Alyx's form in the void started crumbling away into light particles. Midgard started panicking.

 _"No! Nothing in the mortal world should be able to bring her back! Ugh...mortal technology."_

Alyx's form dissipated.

* * *

Alyx gasped for air as she woke up to electricity once again. She cursed at herself for being so stupid. Why the _hell_ did she get so emotionally attached to Natasha?

 _ **"You shouldn't. You should kill her. You should kill them all."**_

She closed her eyes. Midgard wasn't helping! She started this whole mess! She should be tortured and killed and-

 _ **"Exactly. But SHIELD would get in your way. You would need to eliminate them first."**_

That was a good idea...all she would need to do is-

 _"What the hell!?"_ she thought, shaking her head frantically, _"No! Get out!"_

 _ **"I'm trying to help you. You've gone through so much. Just let me out."**_

 _"Who the hell are you? Actually, you know what? I've had it with all you stupid divine entities! You keep screwing with my-"_

 _ **"What gave you the idea I was a divine entity? I'm you...just less human."**_

 _"Shut up, you stupid-"_

 _ **"That's not nice. You've already killed before, Alyx. I gave you the push, but the rest was all you."**_

 _"Shut the fu-"_

Her thoughts were cut short by a backhand catching her cheek. She tasted blood seeping in her mouth.

"Ah you're awake. Good."

 _ **"It be so easy to kill her, don't you think? She's torturing you with a knife, all you would need to do was take her by surprise. She wouldn't expect a good little SHIELD agent to kill..."**_

The young girl did her best to ignore the voice, but killing Viper did sound satisfying to her...

"Girl, I want you to tell me what happened to you that made you into the weapon you are going to be."

Alyx muttered something that wasn't audible.

"Speak louder," Viper ordered, tipping the prisoner's head up and holding the knife to her throat.

"Wa...ter," the twelve-year-old rasped out.

"What? Ugh, someone give her water."

A moment later, a water bottle was positioned at her mouth, water pouring out. The girl thirstily drank, unable to pass up this opportunity of this luxury. The bottle was removed from her mouth. She whined mentally, but let no emotion or complaint show.

"Now repeat what you said."

" **Go to hell you damned whore,** " the girl's other personality cranked out the vulgar words like it was nothing, grinning toothily at Viper's furious expression, " **And you might want to go now before I rip out your intestines**."

Viper's eyes widened slightly before she resumed her normal, emotionless facade. She threw the knife so it embedded itself in the table. She left the storage container. The real Alyx personality took over again.

 _"What...what are you?"_ she asked mentally, afraid for once.

 _ **"I told you. I'm you."**_

 _"No, you're not."_

 _ **"Yes, I am. I was there when you killed your parents. You created me that night. When you**_ **snapped** _ **."**_

 _"N-no."_

 _ **"Does it scare you? Knowing you're me? A**_ **monster _?_ _"_**

 _"Leave me alone!"_

 _ **"No can do. Again, extension of yourself. You'd really think you'd catch on by now."**_

 _"Please...go away..."_

 _ **"Aw. Poor, helpless Alyx. No one's coming for you. No one cares! You can only count on me...no one else."**_

 _"No...Hawkeye."_

 _ **"In prison. Black Widow, HYDRA. Good luck, Alyx. You're on your own. But, when you need me, I'll be here. Waiting."**_

 _"Never."_ She gritted her teeth, lifting herself up in her chains.

Only to immediately be flattened to the ground.

"What the-" She cried out in pain as the metal of the shipping container was pushed onto her, shoving her to the ground. She couldn't move. Her vision started to flicker. _No! No, dammit! I am not blacking out again!_ However, her body betrayed her, pushing her into unconsciousness.

 **(A/N: I promise, that was the last blackout for a while.)**

* * *

Words flickered in and out of the young girl's subconscious.

Victim of Graviton.

Found under ruins of a shipping container.

Escaped from SHIELD.

Missing for a week.

Blood loss.

Torture.

Shouldn't be alive.

Unnatural.

Experiments.

Rehabilitation.

Avengers.

* * *

Henry Pym stood at the window of the young girl's hospital room. She seemed to be hooked up to every life support machine. It was really amazing she was still alive. The stab to the aorta should've killed her. Almost instantly. But, according to the extensive medical report, that was already healing, and she _wasn't_ dead. She survived gravity being forcing down a shipping container on her. According to SHIELD reports, she survived an attack from the Hulk.

An attack. From the _Hulk._

Something was obviously different about her.

"Hank, you're not going to help her by staring through that window."

He sighed, turning away from the sight of the girl hooked up to the massive amount of medical technology. "I just don't get how she survived."

"I know...she's so young. All that...that _torture._ It's wrong." Janet brought her hands together, interlinking them.

"She's strong," he said, "That came from the Director himself."

The door of the room opened. The two people in the room turned towards it. Tony Stark walked in, thumbing through a file.

"For a kid, she has more paperwork than one of my lawsuits," he complained, not looking up.

"Um, paperwork?" Janet inquired, unlacing her fingers.

"Yeah. Adoption."

"Wait, _what?_ " Hank said incredulously.

"What? Look at how SHIELD treated her. I'm not giving her back to them. We'll take her in."

"Tony, she'll need therapy, rehab-"

"She can get those without SHIELD. I doubt she wants anything to do with them."

"She's _twelve._ "

"And yet, she's gone through more in the past month than a Vietnam war veteran."

"Tony, you can't adopt her."

"I'm not. The _Avengers_ are."

Silence filled the room.

"You can _not_ be serious," Hank said, disbelieving.

"But I am."

"You're going to have the _H_ _ulk_ living under the same roof as her! He already attacked her-!"

"Hank, she's a trained SHIELD prodigy. She survived."

"She's a kid! We can't have her around us; we're dangerous."

"And so is she! She was trained to fight with and throw blades for the majority of her life!"

Their argument was cut short by a nurse entering the room. She awkwardly stared for a moment, then walked past them, punching in the code in the keypad to allow her access into the patient's room. Hank broke the silence after she had started checking up on the girl. "She won't be able to have a normal life if she lives with us."

"She never did have one," Tony retorted, pushing a file at him, "Might want to look over those; she's been training with SHIELD since she was _seven_."

"Has it occurred to you that she may actually want a normal life? That she wants out of this mess?"

"SHIELD won't help her with that."

"And neither will we!"

"Um, guys," Janet interrupted, "I hate to break up your argument, but-" She pointed to the window of the hospital room where a loud, annoying series of beeps began to blare from. Both men turned their heads towards the room, eyes narrowing in confusion, then widening in surprise.

"I don't believe it," Tony voiced his disbelief, "No way is this possible."

But there it was. The young girl in the hospital bed had her eyes wide open, the pale green orbs moving around the room. The nurse in the room rushed over to her side, talking to her, no doubt trying to clear away her confusion.

"It should've taken at least three days for her body to recover enough to return to consciousness," Hank whispered, hand on the glass of the window, staring wide-eyed into the room, "This...this is _amazing."_

The girl on the other side of the glass now had her eyes narrowed, darting around more suspiciously. Before anyone registered her moving, her hand shot up, pushing the nurse to the ground.

"What the hell?" Tony yelled, immediately pressed up against the window, "What is she doing?"

"She woke up in an unfamiliar environment!" Hank yelled back, "What do you _think_?"

The girl's actions didn't stop there. As the nurse began getting up, the girl in the hospital gown ripped IV line out of her arm, and unattached what was hooked up to her. She swung her legs over the bed, sliding off. She first fell to her knees, but then practically leaped up, running to the window. She was working on opening it while the adults outside finally forced the door open.

"Kid, stop!" She whipped her head around, still trying to open the window. She gave up on that, and instead grabbed a lamp, yanking the cord out from the wall, that was on the table beside where she was laying before, glaring defiantly at the adults.

Her expression somehow conveyed that she would kill them with the lamp if they got near her.

"Alyx, right?" Hank said, trying to gently coax her into being...eh, less violent, "We don't want to hurt you." Silence filled the room. Her expression morphed into one that showed she didn't believe him...at all. "We're the good guys."

The young girl's expression morphed into one of pure hatred. "G-good g-guys?" her voice croaked from weeks of disuse and the damage done to it when gravity was turned against her, "Good guys? There's no such thing as _good!_ There is only **pain**." Her voice had cracked at this last guttural word. Instead of hurling the lamp at the cluster of adults, she crashed it through the window, following after it.

"Shit!" Tony said, running to the window.

"Language!" Hank scolded. **(A/N: Sorry, I had to. XD)**

"Not the time, guys!" Janet scolded, shrinking down and becoming Wasp. She flew out of her normal clothes and soared out the hole in the glass.

* * *

 _"That was unintelligent."_

The girl currently falling through the air from the third story window ignored the voice of the divine entity.

"Zephyr," she whispered as she neared the ground. A gust of wind came from seemingly nowhere, cushioning her fall to where she could land safely on her feet. She stumbled slightly, coming close to falling down as she regained the use of her legs. She ignored the gasps and reactions she got from people on the ground, instead choosing to thank her wind friend under her breath. She took off running, pushing through people, and surprising a few more with her strange appearance. She ached everywhere, burned in her back, and felt like it was being ripped apart in her chest.

But she still ran.

Her breathing was already unbalanced, lungs out of practice from weeks imprisoned. She slowed down, having to lean against a brick wall of some building. She cursed at herself for being weak. Petty problem. Stupid breathing. She pushed herself off the wall, ignoring looks she got from people on the sidewalk and began to sprint again.

Before a sting hit her back, followed by the resounding word of "Stop!"

Alyx didn't think. She reacted to the infliction, instinctively raising up her hand to where the voice came from. The sidewalk erupted, earth shooting upward, showering some passersby with fragments of concrete. And the earth kept shifting up and up until-

The Wasp was hit out of the air, the sheaf of earth pushing down after it caught her in the stomach, pinning her in between two layers of concrete. The miniature woman grunted in pain.

"No, wait-"

But Alyx was just looking confused as the costumed Janet van Dyne was frightened. Because of another voice in her head.

It wasn't Midgard. Didn't sound like any of the realms. Of course, they wouldn't talk to her.

 _Insignificant._

Alyx shook the words off, concentrating on the voice that was continuing to talk in her head.

"-mortal," a sharp, masculine voice vibrated through her head, "I do _not_ like being forced up like that."

 _"Who the actual hell are you?"_ she snapped back mentally.

"I'm sorry, what?" the voice seemed more irritated, "You're the one who's forced me up against my will _twice_ , and you're asking who _I_ am? Oh yeah, really smart."

 _"I didn't do anything, jackass!"_

"Oh, I see how it is. You ask Miss Royal Wind for her help and permission, but not a lowly earth spirit? Yeah, I don't think so."

 _"Get out of this mortal's head, you filthy earth peasant!"_ Midgard spat out, with a surprising amount of venom in her voice. Mental voice. Whatever.

"Would you _shut_ up, you _stupid_ , **_damned_** voices?!" the young girl yelled out, clapping her palms to her head, startling everyone around her even more. The voices ceased, leaving Alyx to examine her surroundings.

There was a ring of people around her. Civilians. Looking absolutely terrified.

Wasp had gotten out from underneath the concrete somehow, and was standing with a man in a red suit and-

"Bolts for brains," she muttered to herself, recognizing the distinguished metal suit.

"Hey, kid," the voice of a billionaire rang through the space remaining in the metal armor, "We don't want to hurt you."

She dropped her hands and walked toward the group of costumed adults.

She didn't believe them. Not for one second.

But, if needed, she was proficient in fighting with anything.

If needed, she could kill them all easily.

This thought made a part of her horrified.

But it made the other part smile.

* * *

 **Yup.**

 **God. That took forever.**

 **Mostly because I procrastinated a lot.**

 **Anyway, next chapter, I'm thinking of doing a mailbag to make up for the wait.**

 **So review.**

 **Yeah...**

 **...**

 **Sooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


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